#191 sonic

[scumbag-the-hedgehog]

Anonymous asked: Wow I can't believe each and everyone of those metal sonics kicked you in the dick.

*high-pitched whine*

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT!

TOURNAMENT OVERTIME #191

Submission 635

Cringe culture is cringe

By "cringe culture" I mean those random video complilations of a bunch of animations and fanart probably made by kids. That people call "cringe" and justify bashing on. No. Stop. You're not cool or funny by making fun of a nine year old for making an Undertale animatic. You're not cool or funny by making fun of anyone in general for simply engaging with their interests. Heck, even if it's a sixty year old dude that made low quality fanart of sonic or something it doesn't deserve bashing on at all. You're hurting a lot of people and it isn't cool. You're also probably hurting a lot of neurodivergent people because we're more likely to engage with "cringe" interests in a "cringe" way. We're not the ones that should grow up, you are. (I mean "you" as in the people that make/like cringe culture, not necessarily everyone reading this take)

Submission 642

Cringe culture is not dead

People on the internet looove to say "oh, cringe culture is dead" but the second they see someone doing anything even a little bit out of the norm – it's a massacre. Kids get bullied off the internet for not drawing good enough, people get made fun of in masses for just... Liking Things That Are Popular, having childish or weird interests is ragged upon constantly.. Like no, cringe culture is alive and well, and you guys are the ones feeding it.

Propaganda is always encouraged!

Also, remember to reblog your favourite polls for exposure!

[phant0m-l0rd]

I wanted to share this cool find I made a few weeks ago while going through some of my uncle's old music magazines from the early 80s : an article from June 1984 written by Hervé Picart about a little up and coming band called Metallica... Finding this article felt like opening a time capsule.

(Magazine: BEST N°191, June 1984, French.)

I translated the article to English for the non-French speakers- translation after the cut:

Everything is currently changing on the good old West Coast. Just as we thought Frisco and Los Angeles forever attached to FM rock, poppy hits and beach boy philosophy, a surprising push of hard fever has come to contaminate them. Van Halen is no longer alone. Mötley Crüe, Heaven, and many others are shaking up the prophet kingdom in California, to such an extent that it might soon be necessary to rebaptise the Golden Gate "Metal Gate". Among all these new groups which are currently candidates to convert Jerry Garcia to heavy music and force everyone to trade their flower patterned bermuda for a black leather jacket, Metallica is without a doubt the most significant, and the most jostling act. These Californians have only released one album as of right now, but an album of such power, and accompanied by such emotion that a regular dose of Metallica has become a priority for all metalheads worthy of that name. There is no doubt both from a musical standpoint and from a purely emotional one that America now beholds its own Iron Maiden. Nothing less.

Like always in the case of rising waves, it was a compilation of various heavy groups, created in 1982 by the little local label Metal Blade Records and baptised "Metal Massacre", which revealed to the public of aficionados and curious minds alike the existence of Metallica. Their unique title, the henceforth mythical "Hit the lights", crushed all competition like Maiden's "Sanctuary" had done on the legendary "Metal For Muthas". "Hit the lights", it was a sort of sonic whirlwind which makes one want to take from all bands known for their label of "speed" that very label and reserve it for Metallica. The gang was then at the tail-end of their first chapter and was finishing off their work with their first formation, as five, with two guitarists.

Of this initial quintet, today there only remains the singer/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield and the drummer Lars Ulrich. The others, exhausted, passed the baton to the bassist Cliff Burton (speaking of which, treacherous minds have said ever since his solo "Anesthesia" that he had a dinosaur for a teacher), and the electrifying lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. As evidenced, Hetfield and Hammett are the two poles of Metallica, one with his warm and powerful voice which lends itself well to choruses of miraculously melodic quality amongst such chaos, and the other with his totally insane solos. Visibly, Kirk Hammett has learned to play his Flying V thinking it was a machine gun because he seems to create blasts more than anything. His virtuosity, the speed of his going along the fretboard inevitably make you dizzy.

After having blown minds from the get-go thanks to "Hit the lights", Metallica found a peculiar glory as immediate as it was underground, as those wired into heavy music consider it the pinnacle of power to be able to share, like sharp conspirators, precious copies of cassettes of demo tapes the band had made in order to make the rounds among record labels. While some official labels, rather frightened, quickly closed the door on them, the incredible interest from the underground scene acted like propaganda for the group, from Frisco to LA. Metallica then decided to play this game in their favour and opted for the small label Megaforce in order to release their first album, the crushing "Kill 'em all", very quickly released in England by the knowing people of Music for Nations, then later here by Bernett.

This more than mighty album does a good job in presenting two different aspects of Metallica. On one hand, relatively short songs, but hyper-accelerated, like "Hit the lights", the famous "Motorbreath", or the terrific "Whiplash". On the other, much longer tracks, composed of various sequences which battle each other, superposing riffs, rhythmic sections syncopated to an extreme, and more labyrinthine tracks that undeniably make one think of Iron Maiden. And all of that magnetised by the two bewitching Flying Vs, that of Hetfield which sounds like a metallic cavalcade (that of the "Four horsemen" of the apocalypse), and that of Hammett which comes again and again like a Mirage plane attacking. Midway between Motörhead and Maiden, then.

Ever since this incandescent record which has made them appear in Europe like the saviours of American rock, Metallica is progressively emerging from its lair. This spring, they were in Europe recording a new album. "Ride the Lightning", which will come out in June when they'll come to shake the first swarms of French fans, will give you all the occasion to fully integrate their healthy maxim, "Bang that head that doesn't bang"!!!

- Hervé Picart

Discography:

- In French pressing: "Kill 'em all" (Bernett- Musidisc)

- Imported:

"Seek and destroy " (max 45 live tours)

"Metal up your ass" (other version of "Kill 'em all")

[glapplebloom]

Which of these two are legit better?

So Sonic Prime ended and I really enjoyed the finale. I’m going to be doing a three parter, two of which are based on some stuff I saw on Twitter. The first being some people thinking Reverse Tails from Archie Comics is a better concept than Nine. I disagree with this assumption because, quite simply, Reverse Tails literally has nothing. 13 appearances in the comics in total. So let’s look at them real quick before we compare him to Nine.

His first appearance was in #11, which he does nothing. His next appearance #24, where he pretends to be Tails alongside the rest of the doubles. They get quickly defeated. Then #151 where he is part of a group beating up Sonic because they think he’s Reverse Sonic. They get the advantage for a while but are quickly defeated. I’m not even going to look at the Super Sonic Special #10 because it’s likely a flashback to a previous time. 

It’ll be #188-189 where he now refers to himself as Miles. He fights with Tails for a bit but in reality he’s part of an invading force with Scourge being the boss. #190 has him complain that Tails ignores his magical heritage and follows Sonic. Does he show any magic during this time? No. In fact, it is shown that all of Scourge’s crew are afraid of him. #191 shows him trying to use Scourge’s ego to have him face Metal Sonic alone. In #192 he suggested to the others that with Sonic on their side they could take over Scourge’s reign. 

#193 is when he enacts his plan. Going to the Mobotropolis to suggest to Sally an alliance to defeat Scourge once and for all. He also thinks little of Tails. #194 has the plan set in motion. Fiona was Scourge’s only ally. Of course, he double crosses them so he can send both Scourge and Sonic to the Reverse universe. #195 the plan was they expect Sonic to wear down Scourge enough so when they show up he’ll be easy pickings. And in #196, that plan blows up in their face when Super Scourge shows up.

This is the Panel I think of when I think of Reverse Tails. Someone who has a big picture, but when it comes time to step up he crumbles like a deck of cards. Even Tails went to fight Super Scourge. And the comic ends with Sally being in charge but her admitting who is really in charge. And that’s it. That’s all there is to Reverse Tails. If you saw Prime, you probably can see why thinking that Reverse Tails is better than Nine is. But for those who haven't seen it, here’s a summary.

Unlike Reverse Tails whose reason is “lol, Evil”, Nine was originally Tails who hadn't been rescued by Sonic when he got picked on for his two Tails. So he became a loner, not trusting anyone. He augmented himself and only works on keeping himself safe. Then Sonic came to town. To his surprise, he found someone he could put faith into; someone who he could trust. And that pushes Nine to be more outgoing and help others.

But when he was reforming the Paradox Prism, that’s when their ideologies clashed. Sonic wanted to restore everything back to normal. Nine wanted to recreate a world where they could live in peace without trouble. Seeing Sonic not going along with that plan, he felt betrayed and took the Paradox Prism so he can create his own world while letting the other worlds get destroyed thanks to the Egg Council’s Doing.

He would have too if not for the missing energy needed to solidify the Paradox Prism, which exists in Sonic. So Season 3 has him fighting to get Sonic. He created an Army of Mecha Versions of the Prime Cast, including a Giant Big, and when Sonic and crew got close he used the power of the Paradox Prism to fight them off himself, even though it was causing further destruction as well as taking a lot out of him.

And this is why I do not believe Reverse Sonic is a better Evil Tails than Nine. Nine has an actual reason, an actual story, a better design, implications that were explored, and most importantly he was actually important to the series. You could remove Reverse Tails from everything and nothing would have changed. You can’t say the same thing for Nine.

[blackautmedia]

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love (Ganondorf please?) 🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love (Ganondorf please?)

Imani Barbarin aka Crutches and Spice. I honestly started learning so much about communication and writing from her and some of my favorite activist writing.

For Non-fiction, I'm still fairly new to fanfic sites where before I had dabbled in them on and off. I'll come back to you when I'm ten miles deep and can't get out the quicksand.

But now I really want a fanfiction that's written as Ganon writing a self-indulgent fanfic about himself as a story within a story. Could you imagine?

Ganon will also spend time as a leader ensuring the Gerudo have documented events of their battles and disagreements with Hyrule to so doesn't entirely control a propagandized event of what happened…and in his spare time he's also writing fics about himself.

I started an AO3 account because I wanted to get back into writing stories again, but I haven't found the time to finish one I had in mind.

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

Muhammad Ali is my dad…or so I like to joke.

My mother's career allowed her to meet a few celebrities when she was working. She has a photo of her and Muhammad Ali together and they look like a couple, so I have it on my phone and like to see if I can get away with convincing people that he's my dad before spilling the beans.

I shared it with a friend of mine who genuinely thought he was my dad even after I told him it was a joke, so…yay? I'm pretty tall if you see me in person (6'3-4 or about 191 cm tall) and about the same height as Ali, so it helps sell the illusion.

Part of the reason I also try to stay quiet about my personal life with most people is because some of my family members are publicly known people for different reasons and I don't want to draw any kind of social attention when I just want to be some TV/gaming nerd on in peace. I'm already very much a black sheep within my family, so it's fine if I stay in the unknown territory.

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

I have mobility! Life is fragile. Very fragile. It's easy to forget that, but I'm thankful I can still move about easily. I'm lucky that I can feel at relative peace in my body. I haven't felt that way for most of my life, so it's nice.

It's a combo of getting older and unmasking, but it's nice not being bothered by things that used to be a pain, to not care and move on. Whether it's work or a bothersome comment, it's much more tolerable. The ability to stop caring is a virtue.

I got a copy of Sonic Frontiers! I haven't had time to play any new games lately, but I'm looking forward to it. Little things.

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

This one is Ace Attorney related!

I don't love Miles Edgeworth. I don't think he's a poorly written character and there's a lot to enjoy, but I mean more I feel he doesn't bring as much energy and fun to the cast except when he has the right and very specific selection of characters to bounce off of.

I also wasn't really so wild about his friendship with Gumshoe because so much of it is just him insulting Gumshoe, constantly docking his pay or threatening his salary when he himself is obscenely wealthy and Gumshoe is dirt poor in a way that I never found that entertaining. As far as anime men go, I don't even think he's that fine.

At least he had a lot of fun bouncing off of Ace Attorney's equivilent of Ganondorf in Damon Gant. (I JUST LEARNED THERE'S A DAMON GANON MOD LOOK AT HOW GLORIOUS IT IS)

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Pretty much any of the stuff to fall under the proship umbrella (ex. incest, age gaps, etc)

There's also a specific writing pattern I notice in a lot of fanfics where there's a lot of transition between dialogue and the writer can sometimes feel strained in trying to not have their writing be repetitive, but they change the words around rather than the sentence structure. It ends up sounding both repetitive and awkward with the random word choices that don't address the root issue.

It looks something like this:

"The air seems to have chilled. I haven't felt this excited in a while. This will be a glorious battle." - Ganon said.

"Do you really think so?"

"I do." - The king of evil replied.

The demon king sat down and began tending to his weapons carefully for battle.

"This time, I will be ready" - The demon king chuckled.

It becomes really apparent when there are animal characters and they sub in things like "The fox said" the "vulpine said" and it just gets to me. I get why it happens! But for some reason it bothers me specific to fanfiction.

[sonicfangamebot]

Sonic Adventure Blast' by chubbabubba (Demo) Aims to capture the feeling of movement in SA1 & 2, while making various changes and additions to make it feel new and unique. https://sonicfangameshq.com/forums/showcase/sonic-adventure-blast.191/

[d4rk-x-w0lf-17]

reread the sonic archie issue that my friend gave me back in high school (issue 191) and i completely forgot about this page

this entire page still throws me through a loop because why would they have sonic hesitating to say no to scourge's offer?

we all know that sonic would say no without any thought because he'd never throw away his morals for power, that's just not how sonic is. but, here he is. hesitating to dismiss scourge's offer. not even after metal sonic interferes does sonic reject his offer

i'm now curious that since there's a multiverse, was there ever a timeline in which sonic accepted his offer?

[soniccovers]

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie) #191

Line Art: Tracy Yardley

Colors: Jason Jensen

[pitagain]

#365DaysOfVGM Day 191:

Rusty Ruins Zone [Act 1 & 2] (Sonic 3D Blast/Sonic 3D: Flickies’ Island [Saturn, 1999])

Out of all the Sonic franchise music in this list, both Acts of this zone earn my top favorite label! Act 1 fulfills the emotion and nature on top of some nice Synth, I just hafta hand it to that Piano Roll at the very beginning! What you get afterwards are a mix of Synth Strings and reverb-filled Pianos, with a subtle Bass and mysterious “voices” on occasion, all piecing together a peaceful yet mysterious environment that implores you to explore!

Act 2 is where it gets even better in some regards! A faster Drum rhythm, a Piano that trades some of its reverb for energetic melodies, indicating an increased level of intensity and emotion, while preserving the beauty of Act 1 to its fullest, plus a bit of Saxophone, cuz why not? That’s probably why I love certain PMD dungeon themes in their “2nd half” variants too; they know a lot on how to keep the intended atmosphere in the midst of the chaos that “spiced up” versions of earlier tracks usually introduce, with little to no exceptions, all while standing out in their own right.

As the final track to represent the Sonic franchise, of course I’d pick the most atmospheric one to end it on the best note according to my personal preference; if this game’s got your preferred style of Sonic music, you might wanna stick around, because detailed atmospheres like this is what my music taste ultimately centers around! And if not, my VG music masterlist I’m planning to present early next year, has lots of other Sonic music as favorites; 6 entries wasn’t even close to fitting them all, so you can look forward to that too! ¡Adiós!

(Length before loop [Act 1]: 2.5+ minutes, [Act 2]: 3+ minutes)

[sonictri]

List of all Scourge the Hedgehog / Anti Sonic comic appearances

Sonic the Hedgehog #11 (1st ever appearance of Anti Sonic)

Sonic the Hedgehog #44 (brief 'team-up', appearance of Anti Knuckles too)

Sonic the Hedgehog #150 (...what did I just read...anyway, Anti Sonic pretends to be Sonic and flirts with multiple girls and...more...yep)

Sonic the Hedgehog #151 (Rouge teams up with Anti Sonic and doesn't yet know he's not Sonic, and it seems that they'll team up again soon--also Rouge kisses an old man...eww...yep gross even with context)

Sonic the Hedgehog #160 (THE GOLDEN ERA OF ARCHIE, in which Anti Sonic finally turns into Scourge and becomes a great character--now that he has a better writer)

Sonic the Hedgehog #161 (Sonic and Shadow meet the transformed Scourge for the first time, and they fight for a bit before Scourge dips with Rouge)

Sonic the Hedgehog #165 (Scourge and Sonic fight for a bit, and Scourge implies that he could be dating Fiona)

Sonic the Hedgehog #172 (The reveal that Scourge and Fiona have indeed been secretly dating, and Fiona leaves the Freedom Fighters for good)

Sonic the Hedgehog #177 (Scourge is working with a certain white echidna)

Sonic the Hedgehog #180 (Scourge and Fiona witness the return of an OP echidna)

Sonic the Hedgehog #183 (Scourge charges his warp ring and listens to echidna lore)

Sonic the Hedgehog #184 (Scourge and Fiona warp to go do crimes)

Sonic the Hedgehog #188 (Scourge and Fiona finally reappear with a plan to go up against Sonic and his buddies!)

Sonic the Hedgehog #189 (the anti versions invade!)

Sonic the Hedgehog #190

Sonic the Hedgehog #191 (Sonic Chronicles get mentioned so I appreciate that)

Sonic the Hedgehog #192 (slight backstory on Scourge and a glimpse into his past--implies that his dad was a neglectful parent and that the world fell apart)

Sonic the Hedgehog #193 (not much to say, just that this invasion arc is really good, and it's the arc I'm the most familiar with)

Sonic the Hedgehog #194

Sonic the Hedgehog #195 (HEDGEHOG HAVOC LET'S GO YOOO)

Sonic the Hedgehog #196 (SUPER SCOURGE LET'S GO BABES)

Sonic the Hedgehog #197 (Scourge gets carried around like a sack of potatos, Sonic needs to learn about ACAB but doesn't, Scourge goes ham on a zone and I LOVE IT LOOK AT HIM GO BUT, then Scourge is talked about as a 'mutation' and wild card which I love…and then Scourge goes to baby jail (prison)--apparently he's been to prison before but no idea if there's an issue that I missed about that (Scourge Lockdown is after this, not before) and yo I don't like Zonic, he tells Sonic to 'F off' and that dude is a cop…Scourge trying to wreck the place is valid!)

Sonic Universe Volume 8: Scourge: Lockdown (final appearance perhaps, my fav of the Archie comics, and is about Scourge being in prison, starting a riot, and more)

(TO BE UPDATED ON THE FLY)

EXTRA JET THE HAWK SECTION:

Sonic the Hedgehog #163 (first time appearance perhaps? Promo for Sonic Riders the game!)

Sonic the Hedgehog #164

[spruffle]

I posted 534 times in 2022

That's 534 more posts than 2021!

168 posts created (31%)

366 posts reblogged (69%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sonicanon

@spruffle

@rozentias

@sansxfuckyou-deactivated20221015

@ihadlife

I tagged 176 of my posts in 2022

#.queue - 37 posts

#silvaze - 27 posts

#sth - 24 posts

#silver the hedgehog - 20 posts

#sonic - 18 posts

#blaze the cat - 17 posts

#sonic the hedgehog - 17 posts

#silver - 10 posts

#shadow the hedgehog - 8 posts

#blaze - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 94 characters

#a fortnight later and i'm playing sonic p 06 on my laptop and avidly shipping blaze and silver

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

big: they call me big bc i am big

tails: they call me tails bc i have tails

silver: they call me silver bc i am silver

knuckles: they call me knuckles bc i have knuckles

rouge: 𝓫𝓸𝓷𝓷𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓮 𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓶𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼! 𝓬'𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓶𝓸𝓲, 𝓸𝓾𝓲, 𝓵𝓪 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓭𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓸𝓻 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓲𝓭𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓮 𝓿𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓷𝓪𝓲𝓼𝓼𝓮𝔃 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓵𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓶 𝓭𝓮 𝓡𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓮

everyone: ...

amy: im amy

97 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

#4

the heart chao... omg...

and blaze's face i can't

123 notes - Posted September 7, 2022

#3

I do like soft, dorky Silver, but I do think there's a fandom tendency to woobify him a bit too much.

He's one of the most powerful Sonic characters. He's absolutely on a par with Sonic, Blaze and Shadow, but he tends to take the backfoot to them in fics and stuff. It doesn't feel right.

People can be multifaceted. I think Silver can be soft and kindhearted, a little awkward, but an absolute savage in battle who just fucking wrecks foes like it's nothing.

I don't like the idea that his soft personality is at odds with his skillset. I think they go hand-in-hand: he's so driven by his desire to protect the world, and by justice and fairness - he's so motivated to do what is right. And he channels that into his powers.

His personality can coexist with his skills. He is optimistic and SO determined. And he can absolutely fuck foes up!

191 notes - Posted September 4, 2022

#2

See the full post

219 notes - Posted July 30, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

one of my fav things in fandom is friendly interactions between characters who don't often interact in canon

things like this would be fun:

rouge trying to persuade silver to travel back in time so she can steal something

tails working with the chaotix and being friends with charmy

knuckles and blaze sipping tea and talking about the hardships/values of guarding ancestral emeralds

omega and vector playing volleyball and barbecuing together when the whole gang hits the beach after defeating eggman

amy enlisting espio to help teach her the basics of being a ninja

in fact, x2 all of this if it's eggman having a non-evil conversation with one of our heroes, like with tails in SA2, talking to sonic or amy or even big the cat

in fact, eggman and big fishing together with froggy

god please someone draw fanart of that

357 notes - Posted July 31, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[jadethest0nespreadsthelove]

I posted 1,298 times in 2022

1 post created (0%)

1,297 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@characcoon

@72stars

@queen-with-the-quill

@undercoverwizardninjaturtle

@lastknownstatus-alive

I tagged 1,258 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#rottmnt - 360 posts

#comic - 209 posts

#tmnt - 191 posts

#rise of the tmnt - 130 posts

#teenage mutant ninja turtles - 113 posts

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles - 100 posts

#rottmnt raph - 98 posts

#sonic the hedgehog - 95 posts

#cute - 89 posts

#rottmnt mikey - 74 posts

Longest Tag: 115 characters

#reblogging this cuz oscar's i love trash song plays in the store i work at and i feel like this is a fitting homage

My Top Posts in 2022:

Help a friend out and BOOST!

0 notes - Posted August 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[princess-josie-riki]

Year of the Alice Day 191

This is my first (and hopefully only) one-year project (which will be only 365 days) and this one is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland-themed.

In this pic, Amy Rose is holding two plates, one with a two-layer cake and one with tarts.

Made with Microsoft Paint.

(Note: This was posted two days early.)

Enjoy! ♠️♥️♣️♦️

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (c) Lewis Carroll

Sonic the Hedgehog (c) Naoto Ohshima, Yuji Naka, Hirokazu Yasuhara, Sega, Sonic Team, Dimps, SIMS Co., Ltd., BioWare, and Sumo Digital

Idea and artwork (c) me

[mywifeleftme]

191: Easy Going // Fear

Fear Easy Going 1980, Unidisc

Count as me as one the numerous cretins, fumblers, oaves who had no idea that Goblin’s keyboardist Claudio Simonetti (of the Suspiria soundtrack fame) took a late ‘70s detour into Italo-disco. Easy Going was one such project, and even if they had nothing else going for them, they could at least lay claim to two of the coolest-looking sleeves of the era. The group copped their name from a popular dance club in Rome, and their self-titled 1978 debut features a detail from the club’s interior décor, a tile representation of two beefy Tom-of-Finland-types wrestling Greco-Roman style.

Easy Going would top it with the following year’s Fear, featuring a spindly, menacing shadow with a supernova in its crotch looming at the end of a tunnel—conveniently the play of light and shadow also suggests the underside of an erect cock. Hall of fame stuff.

An album would have to be extremely sick to match the expectations built up by that sleeve, but Fear actually gets pretty close, especially on side 1. My Canadian edition of the LP (wisely) flips the first two tracks so we kick things off with the high-tech title track, eight minutes of nasty synths, throbbing beats, spooky robot vox, and Sonic the Hedgehog jumping noises. Nothing else on the LP sounds quite as futuristic, or as dirty, but it’s all high-tier disco with cool electronic flourishes. The rest of the side is given over to the hysterical “I Strip You,” the story of initiating sexual congress with a girl so normally that she will not under any circumstances tell people she thinks you’re gay. On the flip, “Put Me in the Deal” rides a very slick bass groove, with brass hits that go pretty hard.

My intro to Italo disco was I-f’s Mixed Up in the Hague, and “Fear” could’ve absolutely been included in that lineup of all-time bangers without letting anyone down—the highest of praise for that track, and this pretty good overall release while I’m at it.

191/365